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30 September 2008

It wasn't very pretty, in fact, if I wasn't a huge fan, I would have given up on this team before halftime. I kept thinking, finally, halftime, maybe we can regroup. Apparently alot went down in that locker room. Ben Roethlisberger addressed the offense and then asked the coaches if he could go no-huddle. Typically, when nothing is going good, you don't just go no-huddle. If the other team is confusing you, you don't go no-huddle. If your line is letting the floodgates open for the opponent to sack and make you scramble constantly, you don't go no-huddle. So, they said,"how bad could it get, we aren't going anywhere now." Thank God they had this conversation. It looked genius when it happened. Down 13-3 and getting manhandled on offense, the Steelers went no-huddle, marched down and scored a touchdown. The first touchdown in three games. I was excited and yelling. I settled down, but only for 15 seconds. Next thing you know, James Harrison is drilling Joe Flacco and the football jets loose, you see LaMarr Woodley scrambling to grab the ball and once in his grasp, ran for the endzone for a defensive touchdown. All of a sudden, we have the lead, 17-13. It looked like the Steelers from game 1 against the Texans. By the end of regulation, we scored 3 more and let in 7. Yes, if you do the math, that equals 20 each. After a short penalty fiasco with 7 seconds left, we went to OT, where the Ravens won the toss. It should have mattered, but we got a key defensive stop and Baltimore punted. In a few short plays, we were preparing for a 46 yard field goal for the win. A timeout was called just before Jeff Reed kicked the ball through the uprights. The Ravens were trying to ice the kicker. Fortunately for us, Reed is money and drilled it through again. I will tell you, I haven't seen such a dependable kicker since good old Gary Anderson. Unfortunately we lost two key players in this game for the season, Mendenhall and Simmons. We will be surely be signing some players this week. What a game, what a comeback, what a kick. Like I said, it wasn't pretty, but we won.

28 September 2008

I am not typically a very political person or politically correct for that matter. I see many problems outside the economy with our country right now. We have lost our pride in who we are, what we are, and what we do. Back in the day, we had pride because we didn't have to watch everything we did and said. Now we do anything "controversial" and we are in danger of losing our jobs or our bank accounts. We are so sue happy that it is all but impossible to have actual freedom of speech in public. This blog is pretty much the only outlet anymore.

I mean look at our national language, or lack of national language I should say. We should label English as our language. You hear we are a melting pot and all that, but it doesn't mean there can't be an expectant that people speak English here. I have no problems with immigrants, heck, my ancestors were immigrants from Ireland. I have a problem with our own Americans not have any pride in what we have here to stand up for what we believe in. If we were France or Spain it would be expected with no problems that their national language is french or spanish, but it is insulting to expect that from Americans.

I titled this blog as patriotism. I titled it this way for a reason. I think pride feeds patriotism. I think when 9/11 occurred, we leaped at a chance to be patriotic and we were. I was proud of our reaction and I still am.It seems like we have already forgotten what happened that day. I know we observe the day it happened every year, but what are we doing beyond that? I will answer it, nothing. Absolutely nothing.

We invaded Iraq for two reasons, to protect the citizens of America from the threat of weapons of mass destruction (wmd) and to save the people of Iraq from the tyranny and slaughter brought on by a dictator. Now, I know a majority of people believe that we found no wmd's.In a way they are right. We found very little, much less than expected. Here is my problem with it, we gave the Iraqi government weeks and weeks to get the materials and evidence out of the country before we could invade. Do you think they took advantage of this? Of course they did.Saddam Hussein was not a dumb guy. Do you think we had a reason to invade any other country at that time? Of course not. No one was causing visible problems. Saddam knew we couldn't invade everyone and would look bad if we didn't find any wmd's. That is exactly how it went down. My bottom line here is that the wmd's were not the only reason we invaded. We were there to help free the people of Iraq from a tyrant.We successfully did this. I feel that everyone lost sight on what all we were there for and fiended for some controversy. We took it and ran.

I just wish that we could turn this ship around and grab pride by the horns and believe in our country and our leaders once again. Take our past and represent it well. We aren't doing that right now. Instead of showing division, we need to start standing together once again. Think about it. Show some heart, show some pride. Be American once again.

27 September 2008

So, here is my newest installation all about what I will call my favorite band of the week. This weeks band is called Carolina Liar. You can click on the band name for a full bio, but as for this blog, I will give you the quick down and dirty. They are an American rock band from Los Angeles although most of the band originates from Sweden. There are six members to this band and released their for big album in 2008. I love the smooth singing blended with guitar and keyboard effects, it reminds me of a mix of today and yesterday. In a review from Rolling Stone, "Fusing the anthemic elements of U2 and the Killers with the electro production of Swedish pop maestro Max Martin, Coming to Terms is like the MTV show's stars: pretty but a little confused." If you are going to go look for their albums, here are their covers so you know what to look for.

There is a player on the bottom here with a couple songs from the band so you can have a hearsee. Also, here is a link to some lyrics, so you can see if you like their message as well. Basically, I am telling all of you to check out this band and let me know what you think!

The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to dismiss a Highland Park scientist's lawsuit claiming he lost his government job as a nuclear physicist because he publicly criticized the Iraq war and the FBI's treatment of Muslims.

A request to dismiss the lawsuit filed in June by Moniem El-Ganayni was entered Friday in U.S. District Court, Downtown. A Department of Justice lawyer argued El-Ganayni wants the government to reveal information "it has determined would damage national security."

The government claims the court has no jurisdiction to second-guess an Energy Department decision to revoke the scientist's security clearance.

El-Ganayni, 57, claims the Energy Department and Acting Deputy Secretary Jeffrey F. Kupfer, a Squirrel Hill native, violated his constitutional rights to defend himself, to free speech and to not be discriminated against for his ethnicity or religion.

The Egyptian-born Muslim, who has been a U.S. citizen for 20 years, worked at Bettis Laboratory in West Mifflin since 1990. In December, Kupfer stripped El-Ganayni of his security clearance to the facility, where work is performed for nuclear-powered warships.

El-Ganayni said his clearance was suspended after federal agents questioned him about his views regarding suicide bombings and whether he provided financial support to terrorist groups, among other things.

The interrogations came after El-Ganayni gave speeches at local mosques criticizing U.S. foreign policy and the mistreatment of Muslims by local FBI agents.

El-Ganayni wants U.S. District Judge Terrence F. McVerry to force the Energy Department to explain its reasoning for revoking his security clearance and allow him to defend himself against any accusations.

The government has only said that El-Ganayni's clearance was revoked because they determined him not to be "honest, reliable or trustworthy" because of ties to a "saboteur, spy, terrorist" or other foe of U.S. interest. Revealing any more information would threaten national security, the government claims.

El-Ganayni's lawsuit asserts national security has been invoked "solely to shield the agency from having to disclose the unconstitutional retaliatory and discriminatory reasons for the clearance revocation."

What a jerk. I wish people realized that most of the information they think they know is dead wrong. We gave Saddam so much time to hide his stuff in Syria while we were messing around in congress that of course when we finally invaded, it looked like there were no weapons of mass destruction. All of it was dispersed! We gave him the opportunity to hide and he took advantage of it. Now we have stupid protesters on every corner yelling about things that they think they know. I believe it makes us look stupid as Americans.

26 September 2008

I figured I owed you all this much, as bad as they are. They are the stats from the Last game. The few bright spots are Polamalu's interception, his third of the year which ranks him second in the NFL in that category. We also have six total for the season which is over half of our total of eleven from last year. Our defense held the powerful Eagles offense to just 65 yards on the ground. We are averaging 64 yards per game which ranks second in the league so far. We rank 9th against the pass and rank 2nd in yards per game with 234. We are also ranked 3rd in points allowed per game. I feel our defense is playing well, our offense just stuttered last week. We should regroup this week.

So, I missed that Steeler debacle last week due to the fact that a buddy of mine took me to that wild Denver-New Orleans game. I did where my Steelers gear at the game, but it apparently did not help out at all. All that grief for the Big Ben jersey and they couldn't even pull out a win for me. As Bruce Arians said today, "It was my fault, let's move on." Now we are looking at a big matchup and a bigger chance to prove we deserve to be in the top 10 power polls on the national stage. I see a big game from all aspects Monday night. We never lose at home on Monday night. We have alot to prove and everyone will be watching. We need to show them that we are who we said we are. We are Superbowl contenders and should be on top of the AFC. Baltimore is riding the Flacco wave and his two great starts should be overshadowed by a huge fall this week. I am so excited about this game and looking forward to seeing some resiliency from our squad. It will show alot when we rebound. I am also interested to see how Mendenhall handles a start against a stout Ravens run defense. Grant it, you have to take into consideration who they played and that they have only played two games this season so far.

Still is impressive so far. I think the other good thing is that they really don't have that great of an offense. I think Flacco will com back down to earth this week and since that have no experienced running backs in their lineup, it should be pretty difficult for them to move the ball on us. Final Score:Steelers 21 - Ravens 10

16 September 2008

Whoooo Hoooo! Finally! I am going to start with the Penguins and then go with my picks for the rest of the league and through the playoffs. I see alot of articles mentioning that the Pens do not have the firepower or talent to get to the same level they were last season, but of course, I disagree. We had some deadline trades that are going to be key this year for the full season as well as some offseason pickups that are going to play into our lines perfectly. Everyone knows that if you play on Crosby's or Malkin's line, your numbers go up. That is why we added Fedotenko to replace Malone and Satan to play wing for Sid. You look at where they came from and what they have accomplished in the past and they look very promising. We also lost Laraque, but he was only there for the fighting and the threat of bodily harm. We picked up Cooke to fill that role, but the difference is that Cooke is able to score and play the penalty kill. We had poor penalty killing all the way up to our trade deadline last year. We also had an injured Crosby half the season. The big player that keeps coming up is Marian Hossa. We ended up second in the conference without his services and he added some, but not too much to our team. It might take a full season for him to excel, but we didn't see that and we won't since he signed with the Redwings. I see the acquistions and the talent we resigned for the future and I get excited. Marc Andre Fleury is another story in himself. He sprained his ankle the same way Crosby did and came back just in time for the playoffs. The only difference here is that he was a different kind of animal, you could easily say that he would, at the very most, let in two goals. This, coupled with our offensive power, is a great combination for winning games. Barring major injuries, I see Fleury getting 40+ wins, Crosby getting 120+ points, Malkin getting 100+ points, and the team getting 50 wins and first in the conference. As well as 2009 Stanley Cup Champions.

NHL Season Predictions

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

1. Pittsburgh Penguins2. Philadelphia Flyers3. New York Rangers4. New Jersey Devils5. New York Islanders

So, the Eagles are looking pretty good offensively this season so far. They put up 38 against the lowly Rams and 37 against the Cowboys. Unfortunately for them, they only beat St.Louis. The Cowboys offensively put it to them by hanging 41 on the scoreboard, the Rams could only muster 3. I have to ask now, is the defense of Philly good or bad? On Monday night, the defense looked terrible, the week before they looked great, but then again, it was the 0-2 Rams. My opinion is that the Eagles of Monday night are the real thing. They aren't that great. They aren't bad, but not in the top 10. However, I believe they have quite the offense though. I guess they believe if you can't stop them, outscore them. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they are facing a potent defense that is the Pittsburgh Steelers. It is only the third game of the year, but the biggest test for both teams. I think the storyline will pretty much be our defense against their offense. I believe we will come out on top.Steelers 25 - Eagles 17

15 September 2008

Well, once again, a big Steelers-Browns matchup to stop the streak...a self-proclaimed "must-win"...and another loss for Cleveland. This makes it 10 in a row and 16 since the 2000 season. It was an ugly win, but it was a win. It was a night that the remnants of Hurricane Ike was still coming through and we had excessive winds. I believe the win can be attributed to intelligent Special Teams plays and smart management for the conditions by the coaching staff. The Steelers knew when to play what play based on wind direction and speed as well as timing in the game. They never did too much, just enough. They weren't looking for big numbers, just enough. That was the proper mentality for this type of game. Mike Tomlin made Romeo Crennel look like the second year coach instead of the veteran coach. Ben has a combined week one and two overall quarterback rating of 137, the highest among NFL quarterbacks. He has this because he is playing very smart. He is playing by not doing too much, just enough. If he has to do more he can, as we all saw last year, but he doesn't. This shows we can play the tight games as well as the blowouts without losing control. It may have been only 10-6, but in my opinion, this was a statement game. We own the Browns as well as the division. We are the team to beat. We have yet to be behind at any point this season, grant it, it was only week two, but it is what it is. We showed improvements in all areas, especially the Special Teams like I mentioned before. The Steelers only played two kickoffs/punts. The wind played games with high kicked balls and we avoided touched the ball when it was incoming, save one, which we still retrieved. All in all, I believe we played great despite the score. Good teams always find a way to win the tough games.

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